Dr. Richard “Dickey” Jones was a football letterman for the Florida Gators and was Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha distinction from the University of Florida College of Medicine. Following residency at Parkland and UT Southwestern Dallas Texas, Dr. Jones did a fellowship in joint reconstruction at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry, England and acted as Chief of Orthopedic Surgery for the U.S. Army at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He served as Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Dallas V. A. Hospital for 35 years.
He was Chief of Joint Restoration at Orthopedic Specialists, and continues as Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He has published extensively on joint reconstructive issues. He also holds a number of patents for total knee revision systems and, notably, for the first off-the-shelf orthotics designed to replace plaster casts.
He and his wife Susan strongly support the missions of Operation Walk. Dr. Jones, in fact, serves on the Boards of the Los Angeles and Utah chapters. Dr. Jones has been dedicated to Orthopaedic education his entire career. He shares his “Life Lessons” with us below:
LIFE LESSONS
1. Have fun
2. Learn and teach
3. Help people
4. Avoid behavior that creates turmoil
5. There is no fault this time, do it right next time
6. Speak only positives, eg, “Please remember”
7. Repetition is the key to learning
8. There are no coincidences
9. Give the bureaucracy the illusion of compliance
10. Encourage equanimity
11. Pain is a part of life; suffering is optional
12. The best things in life aren’t things
13. Remember, it takes rain to enable us to see rainbows
14. Speak softly and wear a loud Hawaiian shirt
15. What the mind conceives, and the heart believes, we all can achieve 16. Practice the 4 G’s by being:
Giving of yourself,
Generous with your praise,
Gracious in your thanks, and
Gentle with your feedback.
Dr Dickey Jones volunteering in Vietnam with Operation Walk, 2011